Indicator-valve for stand-pipes



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

J. GILES. INDICATOR VALVE FOR STANDPIPES,

Patented Sept; 30, 1890.

(No Model.) 2'Sheets-Sheet 2. J. GILES.

INDICATOR VALVE FOR STAND PIPES.

Patq g ted Se 1;. 30, 1890.

I I I 1 ij'v Him 3 S a S V EVE-mm;

j. kw ra W ens coy. Pnum-Lrwm, minimum", 0. c.

'with automatic sprinklers, as they are UNITED STATES PATIENT OFFICE.

JASON GILES, OF INDIAN ORCHARD, MASSACHUSETTS.

INDICATOR-VALVE FOR STAN D-PIPES.

E'E-EGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 437,489, dated'September 30, 1890.

Application fileclAngust 18, 1888. Serial No. 282,672. (llo model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JASON GILES, of lndian Orchard, in the county of Hampden and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Indicator-Valves for'Stand-Pipes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part thereof.

As is well known, it is customary to provide cotton-mills and various other buildings devoted to manufacture with stand-pipes located within the building and extending upwardly through the several floors thereof, and to connect said stand-pipes upon each floor called, or with lines of hose, or both, as a means for quickly extinguishing fire within the building. These stand-pipes at their lower ends are connected to the street-main or other source of water-supply, and the passage of the water from the latter through the former is governed by a valve usually located in the stand-pipe at aconvenient distance above the struction of the building by fire, it becomes of the utmost importance that means for preventing the closure of the valve by inadvertence be provided. It has been found to be utterly unsafe to depend upon the memory as to the open and closed position of the valve-spindle or its operating-lever to secure this result, for even if the valve be open and a fire'occurs in the building the excitement caused thereby is liable to cause the two positions of the valve to become confused in the mind, and an employ has been known to close the valve under such circumstances even when he was obliged to cut a strap which had been employed to retain the operating-lever in its open position. Again, it is very desir- .the building being shown in section.

able that means for indicating the position of l are temporarily out of the building and to out off communication with the valve within the building, so that if the latter should be closed it would be impossible to open it.

It is the object of my invention to provide I -a valve for such stand-pipes which will indicate positively the position of its gate or plug within the building, and to combine therewith means for indicating the position of said gate or plug, and also for operating the same, located outside of the building.

To this end my invention consists in the valve constructed and operating as hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, in which like letters designate like parts in the several figures, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a stand-pipe and of the valve located therein, a portion of the ground floor and wall of Fig. 2 is a plan view of the valve-gate and a portion of its spindle, the valve-body being represented by broken lines. Fig. 3 is aview similar to Fig. 1, showing a slightly-modified form of the valve. Figs. land 5 are longitudinal sectional views, upon a slightly larger scale, of the valves shown in Figs. 1 and 3, respectively.

The letter A designates a portion of the ground floor, and A a portion of the side wall of a building.

B designates the stand-pipe,-which, being connected at its lower end with the main source of water-supply, extends upwardly through the several floors of the building, ad jacentto one of the walls of the latter, and is connected upon each floor with automatic sprinklers or other usual devices for extinguishing fire. I have not shown such devices in the drawings, for the reason that their construction and method of operation are well known, and because my invention relates solely to the main valve in the stand-pipe which governs the passage of water through the latter to all of the floors.

I For the purpose of illustrating the application of my invention to gate-valves generally,- I have selected as an example of such valves the well-known Chapman gate-valve, and have shown two forms of the same, in one of which, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the handwheel which turns the spindle is stationary that is to say, has no bodily lateral movement-and in the other of which the handwheel partakes of the endwise movement of the spindle, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5,-the spindle in both cases being what is known as a rising spindle. I I

The form of the valve-body C is'or may be the same in both instances, said body having flan'gesc by means of which it is connected to similar flanges 1) upon the stand-pipe, and havingfa water-way therethrough-cor'res'pon ding in diameter to the inner diameter of the s't'a'nd pipe, as'shown. The gate or plug 0 is "slightly wedge shape'din Vertical section, and

co'ac ts with similarly-inclined seats 0 within the valve-body to tightly close the water-way through the latter when in its closed -posi-' A's'show n in Figs. land 4,the spindle D. passes-through stuffing-box c of the body '0 andth'rough the-gateO', to which it is'rigidly.

s'ecu'red'by nuts d on'said spindle, 'locatedat opposite ends of-said gate,'and thence through stuffing-box c at the oppositeendof body 0. Said spindle D is screw-threaded for a portion ofits length, asshownatd, and a 'nut e, secured to or forming part of a sleeve E, embraces such threaded portion of the spindle.

"Sleeve E is mounted within a hub 0 secured to the valve-body in such manner'as'to 'revolve freely therein, while flanges e on said sleeve'ateither end of said-hub prevent endcurved'sufliciently to'cause'it to overlapthe} w'ise movement of the sleeve and nut e.

close'the waterway through the valve.

valve-body and then "extends forashort dis-i 'tance'pa'rallel-with the spindle in suchmanneri that "as it follows the 'endwise movements of the spindle said finger moves back andl fo'rth" over'the outer surface of theval-ve-body. Upon s'aidouter surface of the valve-bod y and;

adj'acenttotheiposition'occupied by the endf of -"fin'ge1'-d when the valve is closed I place;

the word Shut or Closed, or 'some other; symbol to indicate that the valve 'is closed,; and adjacent to the point'occupied by the: end of said finger in the open position of the suitable manner.

valve I place the Word Open or other symbol to indicate thatQthe valve is open. By means of said symbols and the position of the end of finger d relatively thereto a positive indication of the position of the valvegate is afforded at all times and in such manner that no mistake regarding such position can be made in times of confusion and excitement.

As thus far described the valve is adapted to be operated within the building and to indicate the position of its gate to persons within the building; but, ashereinbefore stated, it is very desirable that a person upon the outside of the building should be able to ascertain the position of the valve-gate and to open orclose the valve when, as frequently happensjcommunication with the latter within the building is cut'oif. In order to accomplish this cylinder F, preferably made of cast-ironwvhi'ch cylinder is exteriorly screw-threaded at'each end to receive nuts ff, located itpon t'heinsideand 'outside'of the wall, respectively,-'a-nd projecting beyond theedges of opening a. Nut f preferably projects within the-opening a, as shown in Fig. 4,an d'betweenits threaded .portion'and its head is provided with an iny'p le ting annular shoulder, whereby a central openingof less diametertha'n that 'ofcylinder F is formed. When said Icy-linderis inserted in said opening and nuts ff are applied thereto and tightened againstt'he opposite faces of the wall, thecylin'deriss'ecurely held in position, and the endso'f'the opening'are tightly closed by the projecting heads of the nuts. A sleeve F is located within said cylinder F, -the outer diameterof which sleeve'is slightly less than 'thediameter of the central opening in nutg whereby said nutforms a bearingin which the-sleeve is free to revolve. At its inner end said sleeve F embraces nut e'and is rigidly-seeuredto the latter by screws as show'nyor in any other convenient manner, whereby said nut-and'sleeve are compelled -to revolve in unison. 'At its outer end said sleeve 'F projects-beyondthe' outer face'of "nut f 'a-"sut fieient distance to enable hand-'wheel Fw'hich is secured thereto, to be revolved manually without danger of cont-actbetween the'hands of the person-turning it and said nut orthe wall. At its extremeouter'endsaid'sleeveis provided with an internal annular flange,

leaving a central opening in said *end *of slightly greater diameter th an-that of spindle D, which opening forms a'bearing 'fo'rfthe outer end of an extension D of spindle D, which is connected to the outer end of the latter by acouping-ring,-as shown, or in any Said extension D is of such length that when-gate C of the valve is in position to close the latter,'as shown in Fig. 4., the outer end of said extension projects but slightly beyond'the end of sleeve IIO F but when said gate is moved to its open position the end of said extension is' moved to the position indicated by broken lines in said Fig. 4. The position occupied by the outer end of said extension D therefore indicates to a person upon the outside of the building the exact position of the valvegate, not only in the day-time, when said extension can be seen, but also at night, when its position can be ascertained by the sense of touch. By turning wheel F moreover, and with it sleeve F and nut e, the valve can be operated from the outside of the building as readily as from the inside.

It will be observed that in the form of valve thus far described the spindle D D 7 moves in the direction of its length, but does 7 not revolve.

In the form shown in Figs. 3 and 5 the spindle has both a lengthwise and revolving movement, and therefore said spindle, designated by the letter G, is connected to the gate 0 by means of a collar g upon said spindle, which, being received within a corresponding recess in said gate, compels the latter to follow the endwise movements of the spindle, while permitting an independent revolving movement of the spindle. The threaded portion 9 of the spindle Gr is received within a nut 0 rigidly secured to or forming part of the valve-body, and therefore revolution of the spindle will produce endwise movement thereof through said nut. Hand-wheel E is rigidly secured to spindle G, and partakes of its endwise movement. I prefer in this form of the invention to utilize said hand-wheel as a part of the indicating means, and therefore I locate adj aeent thereto a bracket e, projecting from wall A or otherwise suitably supported, said bracket serving to support two targets placed opposite the two extremities of the lateral movement of said wheel, and containing symbols similar to those previouslydescribedtoindicatepositivelythat when said wheel is opposite one of said targets the valve is open, and when it is opposite the other target the valveis closed, as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 5. Ialso prefer in this form of the invention to secure a hand-wheel E to the inner end of spindle G to enable the valve to be operated from that side of the standpipe, if desired, and as this wheel also partakes of the endwise movements of the spindle additional targets containing symbols can be located adjacent to it, if desired. In this form of the invention sleeve F being omitted, cylinder F is or may be reduced in diameter, but is held in position by two nuts f f, in the same manner as in the form first described. Said nuts f 3 f however, diifer somewhat in form from nuts f f, previously described. Nut f is composed of two hubs, of which one projects within the other, the outerhub being internally threaded to receive the end of cylinder F, and the inner hub having a smooth' bore to form a bearing for spindle G. Nut f is likewise composed of two hubs; but the smaller one, instead of extending within the larger, projects outwardly and concentrically from the latter and forms a bearing for a short sleeve F which is free to revolve therein, and which is provided with an annular flange f to prevent outward endwise movement thereof. A hand-wheel F is secured upon said sleeve at its outer end. Extension G' of spindle G projects through said sleeve F and the key f located in a longitudinal groove in said extension,compels the latter to follow the revolving movements of the sleeve and hand-wheel, but permits the extension to move longitudinally independently of said sleeve and hand-wheel. The operation of wheel F and extension G as a means for operating the valve and indicating the position of its gate upon the outsideof the building is identical with that of .wheel F and extension D, previously described. 7

In both forms of the invention herein shown a valve which can be operated and whiclrwill positively indicate the position of its'gate both inside and outside the building is provided.

The operation and great utility of the valve will be fully apparent from the foregoingdescription. a

As hereinbefore stated, the particular form of gate-valve shown is selected as one example merely of gate-valves generally, and I do not wish to limit my invention to its application to such valve alone. Neither do I wish to limit myself to the exact construction of the devices for making the connection betweenthe valve-spindle and the outside op erating and indicating mechanism, as herein shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications therein can be made within the spirit of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-= 1. Thecombination,withastand-pipelocated within a building, of a valve located in said stand-pipe, said valve having its gate or plug operated by a spindle which partakes of the movement of said gate or plug, which spindle is extended through the wall of said building, an indicating device connected to and moving with said spindle within thebuilding, symbols -such as the words Open, Shut located, respectively, adjacent to the two extremities of the movement of said indicating device, and hand-wheels or their equivalent operatively connected to saidspindleboth inside and outsideof said building, arranged and operating substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with stand-pipe B, of an indicator-valve located in said pipe, said valve consisting of valve-body 0, having stuffing-boxes c 0 located at opposite ends thereof and having seats 0 therein, gateO', having bearing-faces corresponding to said seats, spindle D, operatively connected to said gate and extended through said stuffingboxes, said spindle being provided with the screw-threaded portion d, hub 0 rigidly se- ICC) cured to said valve-body, sleeve E, having a rying nut e, which receives the threaded portion of said spindle, means-such as hand- Wheel Efor revolving said sleeve, and finger (1 secured to the opposite end of said spindle and overlapping the valve-body,sub-

stantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination, with stand-pipe B, located Within a building adjacent to Wall A of the latter, of a gate-valve located in said pipe, cylinder F, inserted Within an opening a in said wall A, said cylinder being exteriorly screw-threaded at each end to receive a nut upon each side of said Wall, whereby said cylinder is securely held in its position, a spindle operatively connected to the gate of said valve and extending through said cylinder, and hand-wheels or equivalent devices for operating said spindle, connected to the latter upon both sides of said wall, whereby said spindle can be operated either from theinside or upon the outside of said building, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. r

4. The combination, with stan'd-pipe"B,lo- 'cated Within and adjacent 'to. Wall A of a building, of a valve located in said. pipe, said valve comprising the body 0, gate 0, and spindle D for operating said gate, sleeve E, nut e, and hand-wheel E, mounted substantially as described, and serving to operate said spindle within the building, cylinder F, inserted Within opening a in said Wall A, nuts f f for retaining said cylinder in its position, sleeve F, extending through said Wall within said cylinder, said sleeve being connected at its inner end to nut e and carrying at its outer end hand-Wheel F2, and extension D of spin dle D, extending through said wall Within said sleeve, arranged and operating substantially 40 as and for the purpose described.

JASON GILES.

\Vitnesses:

W. H. CHAPMAN, J. E. CHAPMAN. 

